[POV: Wyliame]

The warmth emitting from the fireplace continued to engulf our bodies in its calmness. We all laughed and chuckled as we chattered throughout the meal as if we'd always been one big family. Oh, how badly I wanted that moment to last forever.

Onas' laughter was loud and proud, happily echoing throughout the entire household as if he didn't have a care in the world. Eventually, after telling his sixth Dad joke to us, he gazed at me with a grin. "Anyways, Wyliame. Have ya ever thought about hunting?"

I swallowed the creamy mashed potatoes and glanced at Onas, wiping my mouth with a napkin. "Hunting? No, not really."

"Well then! Do you wanna go with me tomorrow-"

"Honey!" Lorelia interrupted with a frown. "He's just barely recovered from everything today. Remember how pale he was when we brought him back to the house? For now, just let him rest as much as possible."

Onas chuckled and leaned over toward Lorelia. "Didn’t you use your healing magic on him?"

"Huh? Of course-"

"Then he'll be fine!" Onas assured, smirking at her. "Let a kid have some fun! Here, let’s just have Wyliame make the decision for himself. Whaddya think, boy? Do you wanna go hunting or not?”

I stared at Onas. His expression was one of pure excitement.

…

Suddenly, as soon as I was about to give an answer, a few words appeared in front of my eyes.

 

<Accept Onas’s offer to go hunting>

 

At the time, I wasn’t so sure exactly what those words meant. I didn’t understand why they had appeared. But I didn’t ask any questions, either. I merely assumed that it was simply another “gift” that was blessed to me by Goddess Emma.

"Sure! I've always wanted to go hunting!" I voiced out with enthusiasm. Onas smiled at me and downed his entire cup of lukewarm water. 

"That's the spirit! And don’t worry, we’ll go easy since it'll be your first time. Let's just go for a few squirrels and maybe an owl if we're lucky enough to find one during the day."

Hearing that, Lorelia sighed and looked at me with her worried emerald eyes. "If you’re feeling okay, then I guess it’s fine to go hunting. But you should rest up early, alright? Onas likes to go really early in the morning."

Mya, who was focusing on her food the entire time as she listened in to our conversation, quickly wiped her mouth and stood up. "Thank you for the meal, Mom! Do you want me to do the dishes tonight?"

Lorelia simply smiled at her and gently shook her head. "Don't worry about it, Mya. Just rest up. Thank you for doing it the entire time last week."

Mya nodded, grabbed her plate, and gently placed it down in the sink as she walked toward her room.

I let out a faint smile. "...what a good girl..."

"Hm? What was that?" Onas asked.

Eh? Wait, did I accidentally say that out loud…?

Lorelia chuckled as she walked over to pat my head. "See, Onas? I told you that Wyliame's a good match for Mya!"

Onas looked at me and gave a thumbs-up as he began dying of laughter. "You’re the man, Wyliame!"

Oh god... this is so awkward…

With flushed cheeks, I stood up and kept my head low from embarrassment as I walked over to set my plate down in the sink. "T-thank you for the meal!"

I smiled shyly at the elven couple and instantly made my way toward Mya's room in an attempt to escape the embarrassment.

"I'm rooting for you, Wyliame!" Onas shouted after me.

As I strolled through the house, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the decor was. Vases were filled with brightly colored flowers- a rather rare sight to see in this land of frost. Multiple flat shelves were planted on the walls with books and empty glass containers resting on top. But what caught my eye the most was a singular painting on one of the walls- a small but mighty image of a man in bright golden armor with his sword heroically raised into the air. "The Last Draconic Warrior," the painting read.

Eventually, I reached the front of Mya’s door. But just as I was about to place my hand on the doorknob, my arm stopped its movement as I noticed a faint voice- a quivering, shaky, and sorrowful voice. It was Lorelia’s.

"...I-I'm so glad that Mya has a friend now... she was so broken before Wyliame came..."

"Yeah, her energy has finally returned ever since the day that Myr left. Wyliame resembles him a lot, doesn't he?" Onas softly spoke. Although I wasn’t able to see them from where I was standing, I could paint the picture in my head of a tearful Lorelia with Onas comforting her by holding onto her hands.

"After all of these years, I thought that I'd finally found Myr laying in the snow. But I had accidentally mistaken him for Wyliame. I wanted to apologize to Myr so, so badly for everything that we've done to him... but he hasn't returned yet. I know my son is still out there. I know he’s still alive, Onas!" Lorelia cried. "I can’t believe it…"

Eventually, they both stopped talking. Lorelia was breaking down after each and every word that came out of her mouth.

I stood in front of Mya’s room, shocked at what I’d just heard. 

But before I could think any further, the door in front of me gently croaked open, revealing Mya standing there with her head kept low. "Come in. I'll explain the rest."

I walked into the room and closed the door behind us as Mya took a seat on the chair.

"Myr was the name of my older brother, but it's been many years since we've last seen him." she began, staring deeply into my eyes.

I walked over to take a seat on the bed. But before I could say a word, a yellow aura suddenly appeared out of thin air and began surrounding Mya's ears, her eyes becoming a bright yellow along with it. And at the same time that my mind was questioning what was going on, my [Appraisal] activated in response to my confusion.

 

<[Appraisal Activated]>

<Magic Type: Wind [Sound]>

<Abilities: [Enhanced hearing]

 

Then, the yellow aura from her ears quickly faded away.

"Myr…” I began, carefully selecting my word choice. “What happened to him?" 

Mya brought her head low and looked down at her lap. "We don't know. Nobody does. One day I woke up and... and he was gone." She shook her head and squinted her eyes as tears quickly began forming. "M-mom and dad... they were crying so much on that day..."

"Mya..." I softly uttered. I stood up from the bed and walked over to Mya, taking a knee in front of her. "You don't have to explain anything else. I get it.”

Mya began bawling, covering her eyes with her small hands. She opened her mouth a few times as if she was wanting to tell me more about her brother, but no words were able to come out of her mouth.

I can’t believe it. She's only eight years old, but she's already experienced the death of a loved one.

"You know..." Mya began with a sniff. "You remind me a lot of him. Not just the way you look, but also the way you talk... the way you smile... and even the way you eat. You're just like brother."

At the time, I didn't know what to say. I simply stood there as she continued weeping tears into her hands.

…

But I understood. I was the memory that Mya wanted to forget about. I was the memory that Onas and Lorelia had kept hidden deep in their minds in order to stay sane. That was why I was treated with such a sense of familiarity after I was taken in. It was because I was the spitting image of their beloved son- an image of Mya's brother.

…

I wasn’t exactly so sure why I had felt so jealous on that day. Perhaps that was the first moment when I realized that my reincarnation into this world had a much crueler meaning behind it than I had expected.

"But please..." Mya continued. "Please stay with us. It would make us all so happy."

On the surface, the family looked joyous- as if they were the happiest people on the planet. But deep down there was a massive dent- a dent of sorrow that everybody will experience at some point in their lives.

Out of nowhere, Mya got out of her seat and gave me a tight hug. Although I was surprised, I Instinctively wrapped my left arm around her as I gently placed my right hand on her head. "You're not a replacement for my brother, Wyliame. I know that. My parents know that too. But please… stay with us..."

The emotions I felt during that exact moment were something that I couldn’t describe no matter how hard I tried. I wasn’t angry at Mya for seeing me as someone else instead of myself. I wasn’t mad that I was merely saved simply due to the fact that Lorelia and Onas had mistaken me for their lost child. If anything, I could’ve only been grateful that it was because I looked like Myr, that I was saved by them.

…

But who was I to judge? This wasn’t even my world. I was a parasite. A parasite that was lucky enough to have been given another chance at life in this world.

I gently rested my head on top of Mya’s. "I won't leave. I promise. Thank you for being my new family."

…

A brutal lie, I had told.